Prioritizing Spiritual Inheritance Over Material Wealth

all of us as parents should want our children to be better off than we are that should be a desire okay that should be a goal that your children are better off than you are the problem is that we only think of better off in terms of stuff we think of better off in terms of money or closer housing or you know the other uh physical features of life and certainly inheritances include that but the blessing in the bible while it included stuff included much more because the blessing included the divine stamp that was placed on the next generation from the previous generation [00:00:00]

jacob the younger wants the blessing so he concocts a plan with his mother rebecca as you'll see in a moment esau was the athlete so he was daddy's favorite he was the hunter jacob was the mama's boy he liked the cook says rebecca loved jacob that was he was mama's boy they concocted a plan to steal the blessing from the older son esau and so while esau went out to hunt to get food in order to bring it back to his father for him to get the blessing rebecca told jacob look what you do is you go get me a goat i'll cook the meal you go put on your brother's clothes [00:00:54]

he walks in his father isaac says who's that who's that who's that and jacob says no it's me it's esau your oldest son he says i have your food he says come close to me he says now you feel like esau but you sound like jacob it says in verse 23 he did not recognize him and so he blesses him i'll talk about that in a moment all i want you to get now is how critical the blessing was he was willing to join partners with his mama against his daddy in order to get it because this thing involved his future [00:02:16]

now this raises the question because obviously jacob is wrong and rebecca is wrong because they're tricking isaac yet throughout the bible god praises jacob and not esau even though jacob is doing the wrong thing the question is why well you need chapter 25 to answer that if you go back a page to chapter 25 verse 27 when the boys grew up so they're younger in chapter 25 when the boys grew up esau became a skillful hunter a man of the field he's the athlete jacob was a peaceful man living in tents [00:03:08]

so when he had cooked stew esau came in from the field and was famished starving so esau says to jacob verse 30 please let me have a swallow of that red stuff there for i am famished verse 31 jacob says first sell me your birthright sell me the rights of the firstborn and i give you some need esau said behold i'm about to die i'm so hungry so of what use is a birthright to me if i'm a star of the death and jacob said first swear to me that you'll give me your birthright the rights of the firstborn [00:04:13]

so he swore to him and sold his birthright to jacob then jacob gave esau bread and lentil stew and he ate and drank and rose and went on his way here it is thus esau despised his birthright esau thought so little of his birthright he was willing to give it up for some food as far as esau was concerned stay with me there was no connection between my birthright and my blessing my birthright is over here and my blessing is over there [00:04:56]

but when you read hebrews chapter 12 verses 16 and 17 it says don't be like the immoral godless esau who sold his birthright for food in other words the problem with esau is he was only present oriented he only wanted what he wanted now because he wasn't thinking about the future later he says i'm hungry now i want some food now give it to me now and i'll deal with later when later comes cause i'm starving right now [00:05:41]

one of the problems we have among men is they're present oriented i'm not happy now i don't want the responsibility now it's all about now it's not all about now it is about you passing forward the blessing that is the divine statement of god from you to you and through you because you are future oriented but because so many men and i praise god that we have so many exceptions of that in our church men who have taken a stand for god for his kingdom [00:06:20]

but far too many men are present oriented and so because they do not think beyond themselves they abandon their families abandon their children become irresponsible refuse to turn around because they are abandoning the blessing [00:06:55]

the true essence of blessing goes beyond material wealth it is a divine inheritance that shapes future generations this spiritual legacy is more valuable than any physical possession we can pass on to our children jacob's deception to receive the blessing highlights the importance of valuing spiritual inheritance despite his wrong actions his desire for the blessing was honored by god showing that our intentions and priorities matter [00:07:12]

esau's willingness to trade his birthright for immediate satisfaction serves as a warning against being present-oriented we must be mindful of the long-term consequences of our actions and prioritize our spiritual legacy many men today are trapped in the present seeking immediate gratification without considering the future impact on their families we are called to be responsible and future-oriented ensuring that the blessing is not abandoned [00:07:45]

passing forward the blessing requires a commitment to god's kingdom and a focus on spiritual inheritance it is about ensuring that the divine statement of god is carried from one generation to the next shaping the future [00:08:12]